The English page: German Stallions for 2016

There are currently 52 thoroughbred stallions based in Germany approved for covering duties in 2016, including four newcomers: Amaron, Arrigo, Earl of Tinsdal, Nutan und Polish Vulcano. 

Amaron is possibly the most interesting of these, although there is nothing German about his pedigree. He was bred by the Swinburns´ Genesis Green Stud, sold at Tattersalls both as a foal and as a yearling for just over 100,000 guineas each time and was trained throughout his career by Andreas Löwe in Cologne. The son of Shamardal out of a Bertolini mare was always highly rated, winning a listed race on his debut and only contesting group races afterwards, winning the Group One Premio Vittorio di Capua in 2012, the Group Two Badener Meile on his final start this year, and six Group Three races, including the Prix Perth, all at around a mile. His third dam Tropicaro won the Group One Prix Marcel Boussac, and his pedigree has many American elements, including three crosses of Northern Dancer. He raced in the colours of Gestüt Winterhauch but has now been sold to Gestüt Etzean, who will stand him at a fee of 4,500 euros.

Arrigo was bred by Gestüt Schlenderhan and was one of the best German three-year-olds in 2011, winning the Group Two Oppenheim-Union­-Rennen and starting second favourite for the Deutsches Derby, in which he was badly hampered. He was later sold to Qatar and finished third in the Qatar Derby that year, and has spent most of the past two years in that country. He now returns to the country of his birth and will stand at Gestüt Graditz for 2,750 euros. He is by Shirocco out of a mare by Last Tycoon and a member of Schlenderhan´s famous “A” family, his second dam being an own sister to Allegretta, dam of Arc winner Urban Sea, herself dam of champions Galileo and Sea the Stars. Arrigo is also a half-brother to Adlerflug, one of the most promising stallions in Germany (see below). 

Earl of Tinsdal is probably the best racehorse sired by Galileo's brother Black Sam Bellamy during his stint at Gestüt Fährhof. He was bred by Hannes Gutschow and raced for Sunrace Stables (his daughter and family friends). He was a most consistent performer, winning both his starts at two and winning a Group One race in each of the three following seasons, the Rheinland-Pokal, Gran Premio di Milano and Gran Premio del Jockey Club e Coppa d´Oro. He was placed in seven more Group One races, including when runner-up in the Deutsches Derby and in fact only once finished out of the money, when he failed to stay the trip in the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot. His dam (by Dashing Blade) is a half-sister to the smart milers Empire Storm and Ever Strong. He has been sold to Gestüt Helenenhof, where he will stand for 4,000 euros.

It is very unusual for a German-trained three-year-old to go to stud, butNutan, five lengths winner of this year's Deutsches Derby, has been retired after injury ended his racing career. The son of Duke of Marmalade – who sired four European classic winners this year after ironically having been sold off to South Africa – and out of a Peintre Celebre mare was bred by Jürgen Imm in Ireland and raced in his Stall Nizza colours. He only ran five times, winning twice and placing on the other three occasions. On his only start after the Derby he finished third in the Grosser Preis von Berlin, a race won three years ago by his three parts sisterNymphea. He is also very closely related to this year´s Group One winner Nightflower, and his immediate family has produced several more German classic winners this century, including another winner of the German Derby in Next Desert. He is to stand at Gestüt Lindenhof at a fee of 3,500 euros.

Polish Vulcano (Lomitas), 2013 winner of a Baden Baden-Group three race will stand at Gestüt IDEE, the home of his breeder and owner Albert Darboven, at a fee of 1,000 euros.  

Obviously we do not have the space here to deal at equal length with the other 46 stallions, so shall concentrate on the half dozen or so who are in our personal opinion the most interesting from an international point of view. German stallion fees are by the standards now obtaining in the U.K. and Ireland very modest, partly as a result of the relatively low prize-money in Germany. The most expensive stallion here is Soldier Hollow, who stands at Gestüt Auenquelle for a fee listed as “private”; his advertised fee for 2015 was 15,000 euros. He was bred in the U.K. by Car Colston Hall and was trained throughout his career by Peter Schiergen in Cologne, winning four Group Ones and proving to be a most reliable, high class and consistent performer. Arguably his best performance came in a Group Two, when he defeated subsequent world champion Manduro in the 2006 Prix Dollar. Originally standing at Gestüt Röttgen, he has been a great success from the very start, his first crop, foaled in 2009, including Deutsches Derby winner Pastorius (see below) and current Champion Hurdle hope Arctic Fire (bought for an derisory 3,000 euros as a BBAG yearling). Still owned by Helmut von Finck, he has had another excellent season and Pastorius' full brother Parthenius, winner of the Herzog von Ratibor-Rennen,  is a major hope for the 2016 IDEE 147. Deutsches Derby.

The second most expensive stallion is Hurricane Run, who stands at Gestüt Bernried on the banks of Lake Starnberg, a dependence of Gestüt Ammerland (on the other side of the lake) who also bred him, at a fee of 12,000 euros (down from 15,000 in 2015). He was trained by Andre Fabre, who this week listed him as one of the best horses he ever had. Sold halfway through his career to Coolmore, he won the Irish Derby and Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe in 2005, when he was the highest rated horse in Europe, and the King George and Tattersalls Gold Cup in 2006. The son of Montjeu out of a Surumu mare was retired to Coolmore in 2007, and although he has sired many group race performers (e.g. Group One winner Ectot) it would be fair to say that he did not really live up to Coolmore's expectations. He returned to Lake Starnberg in 2013, so his first German-breds will be 2016`s two-year-olds. He has only covered small books so far in Germany, but it is expected that the more peaceful atmosphere of the Bavarian lakes will bring about a renaissance in his fortunes; he is in any case the best stallion in Germany in terms of racing ability and with a pedigree to match.

The only other stallion in Germany with a five figure fee is Maxios, who stands at Gestüt Fährhof for exactly 10,000 euros. Rather surprisingly he is one of only two sons of Monsun standing in Germany, the other being Samum, who stands at Gestüt Karlshof for 5,000 euros. He is owned by a syndicate which includes the Niarchos family, who bred and raced him, and several prominent German breeders. He retired to stud after being hailed European champion older miler in 2013. As a son of Monsun with class and speed, and with a truly excellent bottom line, he has been in great demand and he and Soldier Hollow are the only stallions in Germany with a book of more than 100 mares. Even though we will not see any of his runners until 2017, he can already be called a winner, as his foals have fetched some amazing prices, including 180,000 guineas at Newmarket a fortnight ago and 150,000 euros at Deauville last week.

Areion's fee has been raised from 8,000 euros in 2015 to 9,500 in 2016. This is hardly surprising, as the twenty-year-old son of Big Shuffle out of a Caerleon mare, who stands at Gestüt Evershorst,  has enjoyed another successful season and is champion sire in Germany for the third time. The best sprinter of his generation in Germany, and by another leading sprinter, his progeny generally stay much better than he ever did. A Group One winner is still missing in his CV, but he has sired numerous Group Two and Three winners; 2015 stars include Palace Prince, runner-up in the Deutsches Derby and Dhaba, arguably the top two-year-old filly in Germany this year.

Pastorius, the star of Soldier Hollow's first crop and winner of the Deutsches Derby, Dallmayr-Preis and Prix Ganay, and out of a Monsun mare, retired to Gestüt Fährhof at the same time as Maxios and stands at a fee of 6,500 euros. Fährhof can be regarded as the leading stallion station in Germany, with four stallions, while Erftmühle, Etzean, Helenenhof and Harzburg each have three. Pastorius will have his first runners in 2017 but early reports are promising.

Tertullian, owned and bred by Schlenderhan, stands at nearby Erftmühle for 5,000 euros. He certainly has one of the best pedigrees in Germany, being by Miswaki out of a daughter of Allegretta, which makes him a three parts brother to Urban Sea. He himself won 12 races, mainly at around seven furlongs, and he had his first Group One winner this year when Giuliani won the Grosser Dallmayr-Preis. He was champion sire in Germany last year and is in second place in 2015.

Adlerflug is also Schlenderhan-bred and won the Deutsches Derby in 2007. He is now the property of a syndicate and stands at Harzburg for a fee of 5,500 euros. He is by In The Wings, also sire of Soldier Hollow, and is a half-brother to the above-mentioned Arrigo from the Allegretta family. He has certainly made a good start to his stud career, and Ito, from his first full crop, won the Group One Grosser Preis von Bayern last month. There is currently a question mark over the future of Gestüt Harzburg, the oldest stud in Germany, going back to the 15^th century. It was the stud of the Dukes of Brunswick, but is now owned by the NordLB, the state bank of Lower Saxony, who have stated that they wish to stop thoroughbred breeding and concentrate on their core business of making money. How this will play out is uncertain, but there should be no problems for the 2016 breeding season.

Obviously in this short survey we have only scratched the surface, and it should be remembered that there are only about 1,500 broodmares in Germany, a tiny number compared to the U.K., Ireland or France, not to mention the USA or Australia. The days when regally-bred mares belonging to the Aga Khan, Darley, or the Wertheimer brothers queued up to be covered by Monsun (at 150,000 euros in his heyday) may be over, but the German breeding industry is still punching well above its weight. And of course there are German-bred stallions standing abroad, such as Silvano, champion sire in South Africa last year, or Sea The Moon at Lanwades Stud. On top of that we must mention the huge success currently being enjoyed by sons of Monsun as N.H. stallions in France, Britain and Ireland: Network, sold this week for 290,000 euros, and Shirocco and Arcadio, both based in Ireland, are but three examples.

David Conolly-Smith